Scrub brush handle attachment



Aug. 7, 1951 w, Y 2,563,781

SCRUB BRUSH HANDLE ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 23, 1948 TT'O E NEY Patented Aug. 7, 1951 SCRUB: BRUSH HANDLE ATTACHMENT Anna W. Fry, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Itsa Manufacturing corporation of'Missouri Application August 2a, 1948, Serial No. 45,721

01. sue- 17) 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to a derice.

for attaching an elongated handle to a scrub. brush, whereby the latter may be manipulated while the operator remains upright, and has for. one of its objects the construction of) such. a dew vice that will be quickly and easily adjustable. to lit various widths and shapes of brushes found on the market, and so that said brush may be manipulated either longitudinally or transversely of itself over the work surface.

Another object of my invention is; to. so. con: struct a device of the kind described, so that the elongated manipulating handle will cooperatively engage with the other. parts. of the de; vice, to either adjustably lock the handle at predetermined angles relatively to the brush, or. to;

freely swivel relatively of the latter throughout. a full angular range of substantially L80 A further object of the invention is; toso 0on struct such a device that it will be extremely rigid. and durable in service, and will not easily become bent or otherwise distorted and unusable. An added object of the, invention is .to soshape and proportion the, mating parts of the, device, that one of said mating parts. .will be proyided. with a pair of spaced apart elements that engage one side of the brush, While. the other mating part will have but a single such element. to engage the other and corresponding side of the. brush and may be completely slid betweensaid pair of spaced elements, to provide; for. clamping, the device in place on brushes of various widths. as will be found on the market.

The invention has among its other objects, to. produce a device of the kind described,..that'lwill be relatively simple in construction and opera? tion, have but a minimum number of. parts, and whichwill be otherwise satisfactory and efllcient of use wherever found, applicable.

Many other objects and advantages of the con struction herein shown and describedwill be ob,- vious to those skilled in the art to which this in.- vention appertains, as. will be, apparentnfrom the. disclosures hereinafter given.

To this end, my invention consists in. the novel. construction, arrangement, combination, and form of parts herein shown and. described, and. uses mentioned, as will'be more. clearlylpointed out in the following specifications.

In" the drawings, w re n. likejreierence char.- acters represent like or corresponding, parts. throughout, the. views,

Figure 1 isa perspective view of the device. cl s-ed ad er-115mm sq l lg abi s i Figure 2 is a top plan view of the pair of'mathandle rotated a half-turn on its longitudinal axis, to its freely pivoting position relatively to the pair of clamp members.

Referring more particularly to the drawings;

wherein I'have illustrated my preferred formo'f clamp for attaching a manipulating handle toa scrub brush, l indicates the body or back of a scrub. brush of usual or special construction, having the. pair of spaced sides 22" extending lengthwise of the brush and with finger grooves or channels 3 3 extending therealong somewhat as indicated, and with the pair of spaced transversely extending sides l-4. Such brushes may temaae of any suitable kind of material, as of wood; and provided with groups of tufts or bristles Emounted in place to project away from saidqbody.

Usually such a brush is grasped with one hand and then manipulated across the surface. to. be cleaned therewith, but in order to make such work easier, andto do it while remaining more or. less. upright, I have arranged an elongated handle liif'or securement at one end to said brush, making the connection between the handle arid brush such that the handle is conveniently adjustable to accommodate. the many angles that. are apt to be encountered with respect. to the brush and the floor or other surfaces that are. to be cleaned;

A pair of clamping members 7 and 8 are provided formountin'g on the back or body of the brush, these clamping members being adjusta'bly held. together by a means that will soon be more clearly described, such means also providing a pivotal. axis for the operating handle; as will also be seen.

It. is. essential that each of said clamping n embersbe sturdy and rigid, this being" had by castingnr otherwise suitably forming the same or; the required strength, as it has been. found thatwlien the device is of weakerconstruction, as for example when formed of sheet metal, it is too flexible to Withstand the normal strains of use, with 'the result that the device would be "too shortelivedtobe popular, and would become distorted and cause trouble in operation of'tlie various parts.

To prevent such possible source of trouble, the members I and 8 are preferably made rigid as aforesaid, the former being formed to provide a pair of spaced apart legs 9-9 to extend transversely across the back of the brush, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, each of said legs provided with an angularly disposed portion, such as the downwardly extending claw, jaw or leg it, at one end of the leg 9 so as to overlie the side of the brush back, said element being shaped to provide a terminal tooth or rib I I that is adapted to engage in the adjacent finger groove of the brush body. V

A flange l2 extends upwardly from said pair of legs S--9 in a direction substantially lengthwise of the brush, to bridge between said pair of legs, the portion of the flange that is between said pair of legs being undercut or provided with a vertical clearance I3 therebelow to permit free passage of the top leg of the mating clamp member 8 thereunder, as will presently be set forth.

The other member 8 of the pair of clamping members is formed with but a single transverse leg It to be superimposed on top of the brush back, and at one end of said leg there is an angularly directed claw or leg 15, provided with a tooth or rib [6 arranged to lie within the finger groove that is provided adjacent that side of the brush body.

, Said member 8 is further provided with an upstanding flange I! that extends longitudinally of the brush back to oppose the corresponding flange i2 of the mating member 7 when both members are in their assembled relationship as indicated in the drawings, one end of the leg l4 fitting between the pair of spaced apart legs 9-9 and slidably passing beneath the flange l2 in the vertical clearance l3 provided thereat.

It is to be particularly noted that each upright flange l2 and I1 respectively, is spaced intermediate the ends of the legs to which they are attached and are part, and have a thickened cross-section along their base. This greatly increases the strength of said flanges and resists the tendency to bend when the mating parts are clamped onto the brush. The portions of said legs have sufficient bearing on the brush body, on both sides of the flanges, to absorb the strain.

The construction aforesaid, of one of the mating clamps being sufficiently narrow to wholly slide between the pair of legs of the other member, will prevent longitudinal displacement of the members relatively of one another, and as one leg is beneath the flange of the other member, any undue lifting of such leg is prevented.

Both of said upright flanges are provided with bores therethrough, to receive the tightening bolt i8 therethrough, one end of the bolt receiving a Washer 19 and wingnut 2E! thereon,

A T-shaped ferrule or sleeve consisting of the cylindrical barrel 2! to engage between the opposed faces of the pair of flanges and receive the fastening bolt 18 therethrough, is arranged to pivot about said bolt as an axis, the offset portion 22 of said ferrule arranged to receive one end of the handle 6, so that the latter extends closely adjacent the bottom of said barrel 2 l and is then drilled out in registry with the bores through the flanges, and thereby prevent the handle pulling out when the bolt is inserted therethrough.

In order to lock the handle in place at any one of a series of predetermined angular positions relatively of the brush, pin and detent portion of the ferrule, as by a series of pins 23 spaced circumferentially about the inside of the flange l2, and the series of detents or recesses 24 similarly arranged and opening onto the flat face of said ferrule opposed to said flange, and adapted to receive said pins, as indicated inFig. 3. Obviously, the handle may be adjustably set at any angular relationship to the brush in this manner.

However, it is sometimes deemed advisable to use the brush with a freely pivoted handle; hence for such use, the handle is detached from its limited pivotal interlock, rotated a half-turn or about 180 on its longitudinal axis, and then retightened in place as indicatedin Fig. 4, whereupon the pins act as bearing points to permit ready pivotal movement of the handle through the full swing of approximately 180.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, arrangement, combination and construction of the parts herein shown and described, or the uses mentioned, except as limited by the state of the art to which this invention appertains, and the claims hereunto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an attachment for a brush, a pair of clamp members adjustably mountable on a brush 7 back to pivotally receive an operating handle,

one of said clamp members having a pair of spaced brush-back engaging top legs to extend transversely across the top face of said brush back and provided with claws at one end to engage the side of said brush back and an upright flange intermediate the opposite ends of said top legs bridging the space between said top legs, the other clamp member having a brush-back engaging top leg to be superimposed transversely of the top of said brush back and provided with a downwardly extending claw at one end to engage the side of said brush back, the top leg of said second clamp member being of a size to slide between said pair of legs of said first clamp memmer and to pass beneath said upright flange of the latter, the brush-back engaging faces of all of said top legs lying in a common plane, an upright flange intermediate the ends of the top leg of said second clamp member to oppose the corresponding flange of the first clamp member when said pair of clamp members are mounted in operative position on said brush back, and means for adjustably interconnecting said flanges to actuate said clamp members together and provide a pivotal connection for an operating handle.

2. In an attachment for a brush, a pair of clamp members adjustably mountable'on a brush back to together pivotally receive an operating handle therebetween, one of said members having a'pair of spaced apart substantially horizontal legs to extend transversely across and engage said brush back and provided with downwardly directed claws at one end to engage the side of said brush back and an upright flange intermedlate the ends of said top legs bridging the space between said top legs, the other clamp member having a substantially horizontal top leg to be superimposed transversely of and engage the top of said brush back and provided with a downwardly directed claw at one end to engage the side of the bush back, the leg of said second means may be provided at one side of the barrel (5 member being'of a size to freely slide between the spaced apart pair of legs of the first member past the free ends of said spaced apart legs and to pass beneath the upright flange of said first member, all of said brush-back engaging faces lying substantially in a common plane, an upright flange intermediate the ends of the top leg of said second member, and means for adjustably interconnecting said upright flanges of both members for clamping said members together onto said brush back and providing a handle connection pivotally engaging both of said upright flanges.

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Flash July 10, 1917 Bostwick Dec. 18, 1923 Pope June 3, 1930 Bosler Aug. 9, 1932 Firestone et a1 May 2, 1933 Taylor Sept. 10, 1935 Smalley Feb. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany July 1, 1891 Great Britain May 16, 1898 Norway July 31, 1905 Switzerland Sept. 17, 1923 Great Britain June 1, 1921 Germany Mar. 18, 1907 

